Best Star Trek: The Next Generation Episodes, According to You

When Star Trek: The Next Generation turned 25 recently, we voyaged back to where no one has gone since the show went off the air. We dutifully unpacked our most and least memorable episodes of the stellar sci-fi show — and then so did you.

The subsequent outpouring of reader testimonials, collectively anchored by the optimism of the Star Trek franchise's longest-running television series, ran both deep and wide in the comments section of that original post.

Star Trek: The Next Generation tried "to envision a future better than the present that we live in," said reader MikkiTii, one of two winners of our Star Trek: The Next Generation: Season One Blu-ray giveaway. "Few ever really tried that before, and no one I can think of has tried since. Instead we have only endless visions of dystopia, killer robots, post-apocalyptic suffering or terror descended from the stars."

"I watched the very first episode in 1987 with my father," added reader oldskul68, who also won. "My father's gone now, but watching The Next Generation with my son reminds me of those times, 25 years ago, when me and my dad would step out of reality for an hour and dream of a world where humankind was united, and the problems we face today no longer exist."

While most commenters on Wired.com shared our winners' love of the singular series' utopian appeal, like true sci-fi geeks they also favored and hated quite different episodes. Celebrate their diehard Star Trek fandom by clicking through Wired readers' coolest rants and raves in the gallery above.

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'Thine Own Self'

"I will never forget 'Thine Own Self,' the episode when Data wakes up on a strange planet and can't remember who he is, or why he is carrying around a suitcase. He walks from house to house trying to recall his past but everyone he meets starts to get sick and dies. It turns out he's walking around with radioactive material. D'oh!" —pumpkinpatch81

'The Drumhead'

"I'd have to say that the episode that had the most import for me was 'The Drumhead.' The slow spiral of the investigation of a simple explosion into a McCarthyesque witch hunt which seems to accuse virtually every crew member of being party to a conspiracy is well done. The 'for us or against us' attitude of the investigator Adm. Satie (Jean Simmons), along with her relentless drive to ferret out conspiracies that aren't there, is chilling.

"The episode become even more foreboding when taken in the perspective of a post-9/11 world where secret trials, hearsay and guilt by association seem much more acceptable to the public and powers that be than they formerly were. —topsey

"How in the world ('in the Alpha Quadrant'?) can you completely leave 'The Drumhead' off this list? It's one of the better episodes of the entire series and contains, arguably, the best monologue ever delivered by Patrick Stewart as Captain Picard. The lines he delivers about censorship damaging people and society are incredibly relevant, especially as modern-day, for-profit companies and governments are trying to further monitor and control the information we produce and consume.

"Picard's condemnation of the witch hunt by Admiral Norah Satie (Ret.) made enough of an impression on me that I had a portion of it tattooed on my arm.... Apart from my personal experience with the episode, you have to acknowledge the quality of the episode and how it helped build and shape Picard as a more complex character. —Will Vanlue

'The Next Phase'

"The episode that sticks with me the most, despite its very real problems, is 'The Next Phase.' Geordi and Ro out of phase with the rest of the universe, trying to warn the crew of a Romulan plot to destroy the Enterprise. How do they breathe? How can they phase through doors, bulkheads, but manage to walk on the floor? Such obvious problems, but it's so much fun!" —Justin Pressnall

'Darmok'

"'Darmok'" is an incredible episode, story and full-bore Star Trek experience. Paul Winfield (also seen in Wrath of Khan) turns in a magnificent performance as Dathon, the Tamarian captain. There's a Stanislaw Lem-like quality to the central question of communication and personal/cultural history. Totally awesome." —StuartDMT

"It was an inspiring episode for me too, language buff that I am, and furthermore it got me to look up Gilgamesh, who I'd never more than just heard of. Now I've read every single translation on the ETCSL (Electronic Text Corpus of Sumerian Literature) and started studying Sumerian grammar. All that and a fairly gripping episode in and of itself too." —Ray

"No 'Best of Star Trek TNG' list is complete without 'Darmok.' Two civilizations were separated not by a language but by the meanings of the words of the language they both spoke." —rick baca

"Did you guys seriously neglect to add 'Darmok' to this list? I am seething with disdain. 'Darmok' was one of those quintessential Star Trek episodes. Captain meets alien, captain tries to converse with alien, to no effect. Captain and alien are trapped and must learn to work together despite their communication barrier while their subordinates nearly destroy each other because of it.... If you don't rewrite this article to include Darmok, my nerd rage will be like the force of 10,000 Hiroshimas."—Techngro

"'Darmok.' End of discussion." —Caleb Foote

'The Measure of a Man'

"For me it has to be 'The Measure of a Man,' not only because of its metaphor as humanity as a whole but because the decision Picard made affected all life forms that gained any ability to be sentient, including the Enterprise at one point." —Mike Knowles

"One of the best: 'The Measure of a Man.' The speech by Picard in defense of Data as a life form with rights was brilliant." —windys

"The episode that sold me on TNG was the brilliant and poignant 'Measure of a Man' from Season 2. This is when I was convinced that TNG was going to successfully carry the torch for the Star Trek franchise. The debate in this episode on the status of Data — is he sentient and in charge of his own life or is he property and subject to the whims of Starfleet — was ingenious. My favorite part was having Picard talking to Guinan in Ten Forward about how poorly the trial was going and maybe it wouldn't be so bad for Data to be replicated into a race of cybernetic servants for the Federation. Guinan (the fantastic Whoopi Goldberg) zeroed in on the crux of the ethical matter ... that having a race of Datas would mean that Starfleet would have disposable people to use as they desired with no regard to them as sentient beings. Picard catches on.... "Slavery," he said, "you are talking about slavery." Picard then returns to the JAG hearing to make the case that it would be morally wrong to allow Data to be used as a template for a race of slaves. Poignant, moving and not preachy.... Star Trek at its very best." — Robert Karma

"One of my favorites is definitely 'The Measure of a Man.' In typical Star Trek fashion, the writers were able to bring in complex social-moral issues. Duty (Riker's) versus friendship. Justice (and how it is not always so black and white). The storyline, including the term 'disposable creatures,' ties in the sins of slavery from the past with the questions inherent in the cloning of life forms in the present and future. Engaging, indeed." —StezTrek

'Parallels'

"Anybody notice how Worf was always giving perfectly reasonable security advice (hey, he was, like, the security officer or something!) and then being shot down by Picard and Riker? 'I recommend we raise shields, Captain.' 'Oh, stop being so fussy, Worf. I'm sure it's fine.' *Enterprise explodes.* Poor Michael Dorn really suffered in the underdeveloped role of the snarling, stupid Klingon for so much of the series, that it's a pity this article didn't notice how much he finally gets to shine in Season 7, producing one of the best episodes of the entire series: 'Parallels.' Dorn realizes Worf's growing alarm as he shifts between realities with no more than a few expressive looks, impressive especially under his giant forehead makeup. Also, someone finally noticed that being with a stalwart like Worf might make an overly emotional busybody like Troi someone likeable. And a Borg-pursued Riker bursts into tears and tries to blow everybody up! What's not to like? Best lines of the episode: Riker: 'You don't remember any of this, do you?' Worf: 'I do remember, I just remember differently.'" —Lee Baptiste

'The Mind's Eye'

"My favorite part was the very end when Geordi was insisting that he didn't remember anything. And then Troi slips in a question like, 'So what was the first thing you did when you saw the Romulan ship?' and he immediately responded and finally realized that it did really happen." —Techngro

'Ship in a Bottle'

"I enjoyed 'Ship in a Bottle' immensely. I'm a big fan of Tom Stoppard's Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead. And the whole episode had the play within a play within a play within a play executed brilliantly with Moriarty/Picard dueling for the role of 'The Player.' I loved it. I was always wondering are they going deeper into the play or climbing out. Brilliant!" —Christina Mitton

'Relics'

"I'm sorry, but 'Relics' is perhaps my and my husband's favorite episode of TNG. It's yet another of Star Trek's morality plays, exploring exactly what happens to the older generation as things move on and the potentially disastrous consequences of not learning from their experiences. It has a sense of nostalgia and melancholy to the writing, and was note-perfect as a parable about how our current society treats the elderly.

"James Doohan did a magnificent reprisal of his role as Scotty, maintaining the boisterous enthusiasm and brashness he had in the original series, but tempering it with the jaded bitterness of realizing that no one thinks he's useful or interesting anymore. He gets very lonely, very quickly, and is desperate to feel needed, or to at least impart some of what he knows to the younger engineers on the ship.

"As my husband so aptly put it, 'Geordie is an idiot. He blows off Scotty how many times in this episode? It's acknowledged everywhere else in Star Trek canon that Montgomery Scott is a legend in engineering circles, pioneering many techniques that came into common use. If I were in Geordie's shoes, I'd pour Scotty the biggest drink I could find, sit down with the man, and just let him talk for hours. I'd learn so much.'" —Erin Jay

"'Relics' is great. Despite not being an astounding episode that everyone remembers, it does address an important topic, brings back a beloved character, has a Dyson sphere, etc. But the best part about it is that just watching it you can see and feel the heart that was put into Next Gen episodes — it is just well acted, comfy and fun." —Morgan

'Samaritan Snare'

"'This is Commander William Riker of the USS Enterprise.'
'Uh-ha.'
'We received a mayday message from your ship.'
'Uh-ha.'
'What is the nature of your problem?'
'We are far from home.'
'Aren't we all. What was the reason for your distress signal?'
'We are Pakleds. Our ship is the Mondor. It is broken.'
'What brings you so far from home?'
'We look for things.'
'What sort of things?'
'Things we need.'
'Can you be more specific?'
'Star Trek: The Next Generation Season One on Blu-ray so we can see our favorite episode, 'Q Who.'" —Andrew Erikson

"'Make it go.' (I still use that line when talking to tech support.)" —sorrykb

'Remember Me'

"Though I love 'Cause and Effect,' and it is so cool that they shot every bit at different angles so each loop would be different, I think I enjoy 'Remember Me' (the other great Dr. Crusher episode) even more. I love that final part when it's just her and the Captain and she says something like, 'So there is no crew, just you and I gallivanting around the universe,' and he looks so perplexed and says, 'We never needed a crew before.' And then later the great line, 'If there isn't anything wrong with me than maybe there is something wrong with the universe.' —Lazy Smurf

'Clues'

"My personal favorite single-hour episode is 'Clues.' It is just the best version of a true-mystery episode they ever did. Perfect for Picard's interest in detective stories and great for how it makes you wonder about Data's allegiance and then feel proud of him that he alone 'saved' the ship during the first assault. And then at the end they have to do it all over again, and only Data remembers." —Morgan

"I loved the one where Data was keeping a secret of the aliens they discovered. I can't remember the title, but it involved memory wipes and subtle clues the crew had to solve." —Adam Smith

"The title was 'Clues.' Your subconscious knew it but the aliens wiped it from your conscious memory." —RoverDaddy

'11001001'

"How geeky can you get with a title like '11001001'? It's the episode that featured the race of people called the Binars who were brought on board Enterprise to upgrade the ship's computers. However, they had other plans. In short, Riker falls in love with a holodeck character named Minuet. In the end the Binars are saved, but Riker's 'love' is not. When he returns to the holodeck after the whole Binar affair is settled, Minuet is different. Kind of a love lost. Where's my holodeck?" —Mike Sclimenti

'Lower Decks'

"Where's 'Lower Decks,' the only time we ever get to see anyone but command staff on the Enterprise, and one of the few where we see how command actually works?... Tsk." —Dana Stabenow

"I've always loved 'Lower Decks.' It's a beautifully executed piece done with the major cast in a supporting role (a nice way of handling the factor of leads on vacation/sick leave/whatever) while showing some of the effects of the training accident Wesley was involved in and slowly leading into the political situation of [Star Trek: Deep Space Nine]. By keeping what would normally be the main action off-stage and focusing on a group of underlings, it's very much Next Gen's version of Buffy's 'The Zeppo.' —Stephanie

'Genesis'

"I think the Season 7 episode 'Genesis' belongs on this list, although I don't know which side it falls on. It's both awesome and cheesy, and it's easily one of my favorite episodes. Poor old Lieutenant Barclay is infected with something that spreads to the crew, and they start acting strange. Picard and Data return to the Enterprise (from some conference or another) to find that everyone on the ship is devolving. Worf turns into some kind of wolf-lobster that chases them around the ship, poor innocent Barclay is turning into a spider that skitters around Engineering, Troy is devolving into a frog (with hilarious gulping action!), and Riker goes full-on Neanderthal. I still laugh when I think about the shot of him hammering hairy knuckles against the fish tank in Picard's Ready Room.

"As the show progresses, Picard himself slowly loses his human-level thought processes as he begins to turn into a lemur. Eventually, Picard manages to find a cure and lead lobster-Worf on a merry chase through the Enterprise using, I kid you not, female pheromones (poor Worf just wants to mate. It's natural!). He zaps Worf and then waits for the cure to spread through the ship and morph everyone back, hopefully before Worf wakes up and wants a lemur kebab.

"Of course, everyone returns to normal and exchanges awkward chuckles as they all remember how they almost ate/mated each other (as the situation warranted). Also, Barclay retains a couple of vestigial eyes from his day as a spider. Not really. But maybe. No. Probably." —Dan Hope

"When I was a kid, one of the few episodes of TNG I watched as it aired was Season 7 episode, 'Genesis.' I had nightmares that night that I was being chased by a prehistoric human and a giant spider creature. Years later, when I watched it again, I couldn't stop laughing at the plot and makeup jobs. Good times." —Ian L.

'Time's Arrow'

"'Time's Arrow' was a brilliant story, accompanied by a truly wonderful performance by Jerry Hardin who portrayed Samuel Clemens (aka Mark Twain), in which Data contemplates his mortality. My wife nearly hit the ceiling when we first watched this two-part episode, but she is also a big fan of this episode. There were plenty of time-travel storylines in all the Star Treks but this really captured the essence of paradox without giving you a headache." —Mike D

'Silicon Avatar'

"'Silicon Avatar' has always been my favorite TNG episode, even though it does not loom large on most 'best of' list. SPOILERS follow. First of all, within five minutes Riker has lined up a hot date for the evening — and she gets killed one minute later. That got me paying attention — killing Riker's shag Carmen in the teaser?!? Diabolical!

"Then they pick up Dr. Marr, research scientist and bereaved mother of one of the Crystalline Entity's victims. Sure, we then get the 'Moby-Dick' undertones used all to often in all Star Trek but then we have the weird arc where she's gets Data to pretend she's her son. Whacko and more left of center with a hint of dark than we expect from TNG. I shifted uncomfortably in my recliner lounge.

"Last of all, she helps track down the Crystalline Entity and Picard is a happy camper as they start to communicate with it, knowing he's going to hit his 'Seek out new life' KPI and get his usual bonus*. However, Dr. Marr pulls a swifty (which I always like seeing, noting that people still don't have proper security on their computers even in the 23rd century — 'You need administrator privileges to destroy an alien life form'). Picard is really pissed — I love seeing Picard when he's pissed. We needed more of that.

"Last of all, Dr. Marr gets pwned by Data at the end, saying her dead son would have disapproved. No happy ending in a TNG episode?!? No laughs around a poker table?!? No 'deus ex machina' bringing sons and shags back to life?!? No lecture from Picard on how the universe is a better place because of this massive screw-up?!? Just gold. Dark and oblique — just the way I like my science fiction.

"*As there is no money in the 23rd century, I am surmising that bonuses consisted of visiting pleasure planets and shagging Vash again." —Chris Yates

'Starship Mine'

"One memorable episode, 'Starship Mine,' where Data had created a subroutine to be able to engage in small talk in order to be more social. He is at a meeting that includes a Commander Hutchinson, who is a veritable whiz at small talk. Data studies his mannerisms and then eventually engages the man in a lengthy conversation. Riker tells Troi, 'I have to admit that it has a sort of strange fascination — how long can two people talk about nothing?'" —soneal777

'Identity Crisis'

"Favorite episode: 'Identity Crisis.' It makes great use of the holodeck in the detective scene where they find the inexplicable shadow and I love the Enemy Mine-like makeup effects. Also, my high school physics teacher wrote the story for it! When I found out that was the episode he worked on (it was a rumor before, so I just up and asked him), I freaked out!" —DogSwallow

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